


Thief of Hearts

by xenoglossy



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, phantom thief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 19:46:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5061631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenoglossy/pseuds/xenoglossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Nishikino Maki is bound and determined to catch the Smiling Phantom, the thief who's been wreaking havoc throughout the city--but maybe Maki is the one who's been caught.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thief of Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lir/gifts).



The first time Maki encountered the Smiling Phantom, the Phantom had announced her intention to steal a priceless diamond from the most secure bank in town--but by the time Maki and the other officers got there, she was just a small, lithe figure darting away over the rooftops, and the vault was empty.

The next time, Maki had gotten there sooner, but still not soon enough to stop her. And each time after that, she seemed to get a little closer, bit by bit, but never quite close enough. No matter how quickly she acted on the Phantom’s declarations, she never seemed to be able to get there first.

The most recent time, a couple of weeks ago at an art gallery, the Phantom had said, “I’m almost impressed, you know. Most people would’ve given up by now.”

Maki, who had been in the middle of scrambling up a wall which the Phantom was on top of, hadn’t had the breath to respond.

“I mean, it’s only natural to be enchanted by my beauty, but after the first few times, most people realize they’re never going to catch me and accept their fate. But I guess this time my charms are just too strong.” There was a note of theatrical self-pity to her voice--the heroine of a melodrama lamenting that she was just too beautiful, it was a curse.

The Smiling Phantom had spent so long gloating that time that Maki had almost caught up to her. However great the phantom thief’s talents, Maki was sure, one of these days her desire to put on a show, to be the center of attention, was going to be her undoing, and when that day came, Maki was determined to be there. Not, whatever the Phantom may have said, because she had some kind of fixation on the Phantom personally, but as a matter of professional pride. After so many failed attempts, if Maki herself wasn’t the one to bring down the infamous thief, it would just be embarrassing.

And maybe, Maki thought, looking down at the card announcing the Phantom’s intention to appropriate an antique necklace from the museum downtown, today will be the day.

“Are you sure you want to go yourself?” Chief Ayase asked. “You’ve been pushing yourself hard on this case. It won’t do any good for you to wear yourself out.”

“You should talk,” Maki muttered.

“What was that?” the chief said icily.

“Nothing. Anyway, I’m fine. I can handle it.”

Chief Ayase nodded, though she still looked slightly skeptical. “All right, then.”

* * *

Half an hour later, Maki was at the museum, staring gloomily into an already-empty display case. The alarms hadn’t even gone off, and when she checked the security footage, the relevant cameras turned out to have mysteriously malfunctioned. Because of course they had. Maki huffed out a frustrated sigh--but as she watched, another feed, for a camera in a fourth-floor hallway, dissolved into static.

The Phantom must still be in the building! Maki called for backup and raced for the fourth floor, taking the stairs two at a time.

By the time she got there, she was thoroughly winded, but she caught a glimpse of a familiar black-and-pink cape disappearing around a corner and found the energy to put on a last burst of speed. Turning the corner, she found herself in a dead-end hallway lined with oil paintings, with a window at the far end, and the Smiling Phantom was just ahead of her, and somehow, though it was hard to believe, Maki was closing the distance between them. Just a little further, and she’d be close enough to touch her. Just a little more--

“Gotcha,” said Maki, grabbing the Phantom’s wrist with one hand. With the other, she yanked off the Phantom’s signature half-mask and beheld the face of the enemy for the first time. It was a cuter face than she had expected, she found herself thinking--but no, that was stupid. Focus, Maki! Get her in the handcuffs and get her down to the station and congratulate yourself on a job well done. Faintly, Maki could hear footsteps approaching--her backup, maybe.

But then, before Maki knew what was happening, the Phantom had gently tugged Maki’s head down--conveniently blocking her own face from the view of anyone looking down the hallway--and was kissing her full on the mouth, and Maki, well, Maki was letting her. (Later, she would tell herself she had been too stunned, too much caught off guard, to react, and she’d almost manage to believe it.) Down at the other end of the hall, Maki heard the footsteps come nearer, pause briefly, and then keep going.

The Smiling Phantom pulled away--Maki’s grip on her arm had loosened and Maki, stupid idiot that she was, hadn’t even noticed. “Don’t get any ideas,” the Phantom said, though unless Maki’s eyes were playing tricks on her, her face had gone sort of red. “That was strictly for camouflage purposes.”

“You--” Maki began, but before she could finish the sentence--or figure out what the rest of it was--the Phantom had smashed the window and leapt out of it, her cape billowing into some kind of parachute. How did that even work? Did she have that specially prepared--was this her plan all along? Or did she just go around with a convertible parachute-cape in case it turned out that she needed it?

Maki looked down. It was four stories to the ground, and she hadn’t exactly come prepared. Throwing herself out after her quarry would just be idiotic, but by the time she got down to the ground floor the normal way, the Phantom would be well out of the way. Yet again, the Phantom had gotten the better of her.

Maki studied the mask in her hand as if, looked at the right way, it would provide all the answers to the questions swirling through her mind right now. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and she wasn’t even sure how to begin to do it.

Somehow, though, she didn’t mind nearly as much as she should.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, I saw "Nico/Maki" and "crime" and "AUs" and this just happened. I regret nothing except that genre conventions require Nico to be uncharacteristically competent here (well, and that time constraints required me to keep it short).


End file.
